Upon the Wings of an Ironwing
by Marly Mischief
Summary: This story is A/U and it is set after Laurence and Temeraire are exiled to Australia.  I wrote this for a class about a year ago, and found it recently.  I decided to post it to see what you all thought.


"It's nice to relax on the beach. Even with all these convicts around it isn't hard to soak up the sun," Annabelle spoke energetically to the large dragon that she leaned back against. Annabelle Ritter was 26 years of age, a German noble, sent to the British colonies in Australia by her father to escape the Napoleonic War after the lost battle at Jena in Prussia. Her hair was a midnight black, a high contrast to her glittering, bright blue eyes.

"Well, I think that's because they're afraid of me. Look at them, they won't even come within a mile of me," Wolfram said, his large head wandering over the shore, watching as even the toughest looking of them wouldn't even come close. Wolfram was a Russian Breed of Dragon, the Ironwing. Wolfram's breed made him extremely tall, and a heavy-weight dragon. Black stretched from the last, right wing joint, across his back, and ended about the last, left wing joint. Blue lined his large wings and covered the rest of his body, save for a Black streak that started at his forehead and stopped at his mouth.

Annabelle laughed and patted Wolfram's forearm. She sighed contently and looked across the sea, scanning the blue for any sign of the ship they had heard about. The ship was a dragon transport, bringing a dragon and his companion to Australia for treason. And without a doubt, she leaned forward, peering across the blue and saw a speck in the middle of the blue sky and the darker toned Blue Ocean.

Wolfram stretched his head out to try and see the speck better. Annabelle peered through the seeing glass and focused in on the speck. Slightly Magnified, she could barely tell it was a dragon transport, and her assumption was proven right when a large dragon head raised itself up into the air from the dragon deck.

"That's them! That's the ship!" Annabelle shouted enthusiastically, scrambling to sit at the top of Wolfram's Shoulders. Wolfram, just as excited as Annabelle, launched himself into flight as soon as she was secure. He roared happily after lifting off, his wings beating quickly to pick up speed and to reach the ship as quickly as possible. Annabelle peered again though her seeing glass and saw that his roar had gotten the attention of not just one dragon aboard, but two; for two dragon heads where in the air, curiously watching them.

As they got closer to the ship, Annabelle recognized the breeds of dragons aboard the ship. One was a fire breathing Kazilik, a Turkish breed. The other dragon, however, was the one who shocked her the most. He was a Chinese Celestial, the rarest breed in the world, and certainly a breed she would have never even imagined to be on the ship.

Wolfram slowed his speed and circled the ship. "Hey!" Annabelle shouted, and waved her arms in the air. Two aviators, obviously the companions of the dragons aboard, waved back. The people scurried across the dragon deck to make room for Wolfram, and as soon as it was clear, Wolfram landed gently on the deck.

As she hopped down from Wolfram's back the aviator's approached her, along with the captain of the ship.

"Ritter and this dragon here is Wolfram," She introduced herself and Wolfram with a minor German accent; Wolfram giving a polite nod to the aviators and the other two dragons.

"Captain Laurence of Temeraire," The blond aviator spoke politely. He had blue eyes, and his hair was neatly pulled back. He wore a slightly wore out green aviator's coat with the bars signifying him a captain.

"Captain Granby of Iskierka, nice to meet you, Lady Ritter," The other aviator said. He had pale skin, and brown hair, also pulled back.

"Granby? John Granby? It's been awhile hasn't it! Jeez, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again anytime soon," Annabelle said as she cocked her head slightly to the right, with her hands on her hips. This gained her a perplexed face from both captains. "You know, the little girl from Germany who used to run around the covert sixteen years ago. We used to play together when I'd visit the covert. You know, Bell-Bell? Daughter of Captain Ritter of Ansgar?"

"Dear Lord! Bell? What are you doing here!" Granby exclaimed.

"When Napoleon started taking over Europe my dad didn't want me to be in any danger. So he sent me here, giving me most of the family fortune so that I could build a manor for myself and so that I could make the trip here," Annabelle said, and chuckled.

"Ansgar? I don't think we saw him when we were helping the Prussians fight," Temeraire chipped into the conversation.

"Of course you didn't see him. My father and Ansgar died defending the German border," Annabelle said, a little saddened.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss," Temeraire responded.

"Oh, you're fine, you didn't know. So, what did you all do to get yourselves in trouble?" Annabelle asked. Laurence and Granby began to tell her their story, with Iskierka and Temeraire chipping in. They shared their stories till they laid anchor in the harbor.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This was written about a year ago when I was a senior in High School. I wrote it for my final in my Sci-Fi Literature class and decided to post it up here when I found it. I might continue it if I get enough reviews and requests for it. It was originally going to be longer anyway. And I still have the outline for it, I could always extend.

I hope you enjoy it!**  
><strong>


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